At Rest: The Excavation of Ten Graves within the Pima Tribe No. 10, Improved Order of Red Men Plot within the Court Street Cemetery, Tucson, Pima County, Arizona

Summary

The Salvation Army constructed a new Hospitality House in 2014-2015. As part of the project, The Salvation Army traded a piece of land to the City of Tucson in exchange for a portion. This land contained the eastern cluster of graves from the Pima Tribe No. 10, Improved Order of Red Men plot, part of the larger Court Street Cemetery, in use from 1875-1909, and subsequently redeveloped for housing and business. The Court Street Cemetery has been assigned Arizona State Museum site number AZ BB:13:156 (ASM).

The Pima Tribe No. 10, Improved Order of Red Men was a national fraternal organization that formed a chapter in Tucson in 1897. They purchased a cemetery plot within the Court Street Cemetery in 1898, using it until 1908. Historical records identify 15 individuals interred in the plot. In 2011, backhoe stripping revealed two clusters of burials within the plot, each with 10 graves.

Desert Archaeology excavated the 10 graves in the eastern cluster in January 2015. One grave was empty, apparently abandoned while being dug when it struck other graves. Two graves contained complete child burials with skeletal remains, clothing, coffins, and outer boxes. Seven adult graves had been exhumed in 1915, but in each case, human remains were left behind, as well as six coffins, seven outer boxes, and clothing remnants.

Analysis of the remains revealed that the two children were not the child identified in historical records, and therefore their identity could not be determined. Both children had been buried with floral arrangements placed on the lids of their coffins. None of the adults were complete enough to identify, although several could be identified as male due to distinctive clothing items (cuff links, collar buttons, and a celluloid collar). Outer boxes were plain, manufactured from pine. Coffins were decorated with a variety of hardware, most of which could be identified in contemporary coffin hardware catalogs.

Almost 50 graves have been identified within the Court Street Cemetery since the 1940s. About half had been exhumed in the 1910s, but in each case, human remains and coffin parts were left behind. The excavated Red Men graves provide new information about burial practices in early twentieth century Tucson. Any ground-disturbing activities deeper than 6 inches in the western cluster of Red Men graves should be preceded by archaeological excavation of these graves.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Desert Archaeology DAHA Resources   •
• Digital Archive of Huhugam Archaeology (DAHA)

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1857 to 1909

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Prepared By(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Submitted To(s): The Salvation Army

Record Identifiers

Arizona State Museum (ASM) Accession Number(s): 2011-422

ARS (s): 41-844

File Information